The United Kingdom has officially stopped issuing new Health and Care Worker visas to foreign workers. The policy took effect from Monday July 22, 2025.
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Yvetter Cooper, the UK home secretary had in May told the BBC that Care workers will no longer be recruited from overseas as part of a crackdown on visas for lower-skilled workers.
Yvette Cooper said it is “time to end that care worker recruitment from abroad” and rules will change this year – instead requiring firms to hire British nationals or extend visas of overseas workers already in the country.
The decision of the UK Government marks a major shift in the government immigration policy and forms part of a strategy to reduce net migration, particularly in lower-wage sectors.
Previously, the visa route allowed thousands of foreign nationals, especially from developing countries, to work in the UK’s social care sector.
Successive UK governments have tried unsuccessfully to reduce net migration, which is the number of people coming to the UK minus the number leaving.
Net migration to the UK climbed to a record 906,000 in June 2023, and last year it stood at 728,000.
Government officials say the change is aimed at boosting local employment and tackling misuse of the visa sponsorship system, which has come under increasing scrutiny in recent months.
The current government has already tightened rules around care sector workers after coming to power last July.
Applications for Health and Care Worker visas peaked at 18,300 in August 2023, then collapsed to 1,700 by April this year following the ban on bringing dependants.
And on 9 April, an additional restriction was added requiring care firms who want to recruit a new worker from overseas to prove they attempted to recruit a worker from within England first.
But the new rules will require care companies to recruit from domestic workers or a pool of over 10,000 care workers brought to the UK on visas for jobs that never materialised.
The Home Office insists the decision aligns with the country’s long-term economic and immigration goals.
Nnamdi Maduakor is a Writer, Investor and Entrepreneur
